The Aftermath of War
by Sorceress of Magic
Summary: Following the final battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, everyone is either mourning or celebrating. Meanwhile two completely different girls are deeply hurting and never expected to find comfort within each other. They never expected to bond over secrets that they had both hidden.


_In a relatively empty part of the Great Hall sat a bushy haired girl with tears in her eyes as she looked at all her friends, classmates, professors, and families reunited whether joyfully or in mourning. Ron and Ginny sat mourning the loss of Fred with their family. Harry had taken his invisibility cloak and gone for a walk to clear his head. So here sat our lonely heroine when a distraught brunette walked up beside her._

"Can I sit here?" she asked

_Hermione nodded without looking up to see who it was._

"So why aren't you with your friends?" she asked

"I could ask you the same question, Parkinson." Hermione answered still not looking at her companion

"Well Granger, everyone is busy with their families…I can't exactly do that so…" Pansy spoke

"I thought most of Slytherin left to find their families?" Hermione questioned

"Well most Slytherins that left are the ones who knew where to look. Most of their families were held up in Hogsmede or Diagon Alley just waiting for them, not mine." Pansy sneered

"I'm sorry…I didn't know." Hermione stated

"You don't have to be sorry, I'm a horrible person, and I've been horrible to you all these years. I don't deserve anyone's pity." Pansy went on

_Hermione couldn't deny the truth in Pansy's words; she had been a horrible person to mostly everyone. She just shot her a sorrowful glance hoping she would go on. _

"I…I'm sorry you know…for what I said about Potter earlier. I was just scared, really scared and I just wanted it to stop. I thought that was the only way." Pansy explained

_Hermione thought back a few hours earlier in this very room when Voldemort promised no more lives would be taken if we gave up Harry and Pansy hurriedly suggested for someone to grab him. _

"Everyone found it in their hearts to trust Harry, why couldn't you?" Hermione asked

"He doesn't care about someone like me...a pureblood Slytherin who gets enjoyment out of mocking him and his friends. He would have never accepted my trust, nor could he have helped me. Nor could you…in fact I don't even know why I'm talking to you Granger." Pansy stated as she got up to leave

"That's not true Pansy." Hermione said sweetly causing the brunette to turn stop in her tracks

_Pansy just stared at the girl who she had mocked for the last six years who had just told her that she had the wrong opinion of her and Harry. Hermione noticed the silence and continued to speak._

"Earlier when we were still trying to find and destroy the horcruxes, we ended up in the Room of Requirement where we met Draco, Blaise, and Goyle." Hermione started

"So that's where Blaise and Goyle ran off to when we all ran out of the cell." Pansy recalled

"Anyway, Goyle set a Fiendfyre spell which would eventually lead to his death but Harry, Ron and I found some brooms and flew out of there in time." Hermione continued

"So you got rid of all your enemies but me, is that it?" Pansy growled

"No Pansy, if you'd let me finish I'd tell you that we couldn't leave Draco and Blaise in there, we flew them to safety too. Harry saved two Slytherins, two of the ones who teased us for years; surely you have to believe that he would show the same consideration for you." Hermione explained

"Really" Pansy questioned dumbfounded

"And besides, it was me that was your main target, not really Harry." Hermione stated

"Which brings me back to my point; I don't know why I'm talking to you, Granger." Pansy sneered once again getting up to leave

"Everyone needs someone, Pansy. You're talking to me because you have no one else right now, and either do I." Hermione started

"Seriously? You're the golden girl; you have anything and everything you could want! You have the muggle world and the Wizarding world at your beck and call. You don't give a damn about me and I'm sick of your pity party, I'd rather suffer alone then get pity from you." Pansy growled and stormed out of the great hall

_Hermione had enough of the brunette's attitude so she got up and followed her out of the Great Hall and out of the building. Pansy noticed Hermione was following her as they got towards the lake and was visibly upset._

"Just let it go golden girl, we can pretend that I never said anything to you and you can go back to your important hero lifestyle." Pansy stated still walking

"Stop it! Stop it right know you egotistical, self-centered brat! I'm sick of your snide comments so I'm gonna say my peace and you're gonna listen." Hermione stated reaching for the brunette's arm and turning her around to face her

_Pansy looked at Hermione's hand on her arm in shock then looked into her fiery brown eyes seeing that she was not playing around._

"You think you know me Parkinson? You think that my life is just perfect? You don't know a damn thing about me and I'm sick of you insinuating that because I'm friends with Harry that I get whatever I want! You think just because I'm considered a hero that I haven't suffered? Did you ever stop and think that maybe I put on a good front for Harry and Ron? Maybe I put on a good front for everyone because the Sorting Hat stuck me in stupid Gryffindor where I need to prove I'm brave twenty-four seven. Maybe I've had to give up more than most but I don't make it public knowledge. Maybe I don't want people to pity me so I pretend that everything is fine. Maybe I don't show my suffering because I'm surrounded by people who have lost important people close to them and I feel like my pain isn't as justified. Did you think about that?" Hermione practically screamed

"No…I hadn't thought about that…" Pansy quietly spoke

_Overwhelmed by this proclamation that she had been holding in for the past year if not longer Hermione was shaking. Pansy noticed this and felt bad for pushing her to this point so she too did something uncharacteristic, she reached over and hugged the fragile heroine. This took Hermione by surprise but she eventually embraced the brunette and hugged back._

"I haven't had a hug like that since Harry and I were still on the run, after Ron left us." Hermione spoke truthfully once they broke apart

"I haven't had a hug like that since…since I was little." Pansy stated sadly

"Really, I'm so sorry Pansy." Hermione spoke sympathetically

"Don't be its fine, my parents and I weren't close while I was growing up, they were pretty busy most of the time. My mom tried to buy me to make up for her not being around. My dad was too busy with his business." Pansy spoke

"Pansy, where are your parents now?" Hermione asked carefully

"They've been missing since the summer…" she sadly disclosed

"Where did you last see them? Have you heard their names mentioned on the radio? We must start looking for them!" Hermione switched into hero-mode

"No, Hermione." Pansy stated using her actual name for the first time

"You don't want to find them?" Hermione questioned speaking softer this time

"I don't want to find out that there is nothing left to find." Pansy squeaked just above a whisper

_Hermione was stunned. How could this girl who has always been so tough be crumbling in front of her._

"If I don't look then I can't be disappointed by the results of the search." Pansy stated

"Pansy, what if they need help? What if you're the only one that knows that they are missing? What if…" Hermione ranted before Pansy cut her off

"What if they aren't missing anymore? What if they were casualties of the war Hermione?" Pansy spoke gravely and used her proper name for the second time

_Hermione finally got it…Pansy's parents might have been killed by Death Eaters and she would never know because they've been missing for so long now. She always acts so tough even now but the truth is that she is nothing more than a scared little girl who has been abandoned by the ones she loves. Another one of us deeply affected by this war…_

"Pansy, I'm going to tell you something that no one else knows okay?" Hermione spoke

_Hermione watched Pansy as she gave a slight nod urging her to go on. Hermione braced herself to speak these words aloud for the first time and to her enemy no less._

"I have no idea where my parents are either." Hermione stated

_Pansy looked at her carefully looking for a trace of a lie but couldn't find one._

"Before Harry, Ron and I took off looking for the horcruxes I altered my parents' memories. They have no idea that they have a daughter or who they really are." Hermione finally admitted

"Oh Hermione…" Pansy spoke in disbelief

_Hermione looked away from the brunette as tears threatened to fall. She sat down on the cool grass and looked out into the lake. Pansy took noticed and mirrored the action._

"Well our current situations are pretty similar, who knew?" Pansy tried to lighten the mood

"You just had to ruin the serious moment, huh?" Hermione laughed for the first time in a while

"Why sit around moping, we said what we needed to say, now we can laugh." Pansy said before bursting out in laughter

_The girls sat laughing, looking like the best of friends. You would never know that one was a scared, pureblood Slytherin and the other was a brave, muggleborn Gryffindor. You would never know that a war just ended and neither girl knew the whereabouts of their parents. This would be a day both girls would remember for the rest of their lives. The moral of this story…hard times will always reveal true friends._

**Author's Note: **Hey guys that came out of nowhere but I'm proud of it. My first HP oneshot, I hope you all like it. Thanks for reading


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